One-Layer Blossom

I made a one-layer card. I DID! I have the pleasure of living within spitting distance of the lovely Susan Raihala, and we do lunch on occasion, talk stampy stuff, blogs, challenges, and general life. It's so fun to get together with fellow stampy peeps. In addition to being crazy talented in the minimalist realm, she has a killer reading list, and now so do I. #win

So, one of the things we've discussed is the definition of one-layer. I am the person to forever challenge this definition, since I almost always work on a separate 4x5.25 panel that gets adhered in some fashion to a card base. I can probably get past that, but when I work on water color paper, it's an A2 piece of paper that then ... gets stuck to a card base. But this is not the purist's sense of a one-layer card, and I have yet to find the intestinal fortitude to cut up an 8.5x11 piece of water color paper and only use the front.*

Until yesterday. I had a crafty play date, and we were told to bring NOTHING with us, or at least very, very little. Well, pffth, that's not going to happen, but I did scale way back and only brought my new stamps and dies, and some foil, and some heavy-weight vellum, and some 8.5x11 water color paper. It was a skeletal plan, but I actually made two cards. Yep, two. All day.

So, the current One-Layer Simplicity Challenge is Blossom. I opened my 8.5x11 Hero Arts water color paper pack, cut a piece in half, and rummaged through my pal's collection of floral stamps. This is what came out:

It's not exactly what I'd planned, but it's close. Apparently my detail water brush is a little fatter than I thought, or my hand is way less steady than I thought, or both, because I colored outside the lines of the stem. Oh, wait, I meant to do that. Yeah, I went back and outlined the whole thing with Tumbled Glass.

This was so easy to make! I just stamped the image repeatedly, thanks to my MISTI, with Archival Jet Black ink, smooshed a few mini Distress inks onto my craft mat, spritzed them with water, and used my empty too-fat detail water brush to apply the color to the image.  Too easy, really.

Yes, I'm still itchy with the whole base being water color paper, but I DID IT! Phew, way outside of my comfort zone, too. But then, that's what a challenge is all about, right? :)

Thanks for stopping by!

*My pal suggested I could maybe get past the "use only the front" conundrum by purposely water coloring over the fold and onto the back, or even on the inside. THIS, people, is why hanging with fellow stampy peeps is good for the soul.

Stuff I used: Hero Arts water color paper, The Craft's Meow Hope Blooms stamp set, and the following:

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There's a New Market In Town!

As some of my long-time readers may remember, I used to participate in weekly farmers markets to sell my cards. And even though I was a crafter, hoping beyond hope to just sell something, we all know I was really there for the produce. And the cute dogs. I loved the interaction with customers, but I got old and tired, and eventually just became a customer instead of a vendor.

So, when I planned to move to Ohio, one of the first things I did was check out local farmers markets so I could support local. There were a few in the area, but not in my town. When someone asked if there was any interest in starting up a market, I was all over it!

We were a group of volunteers that came together and pooled our respective talents and resources, and I'm happy to say that after almost a year and a half of work, today was our Opening Day!

Here are a few of the offerings from our vendors:

We have eggs!

She sold out in about an hour and a half.

The egg lady also brought baby goats and some hens for our entertainment:

One of the goats turned out to be an escape artist. Kept her busy!

We have hanging plants!

They almost sold out. Amazingly pretty!

We have tasty 2-bite desserts!

I love this stuff. A tiny bit of guilt-free yumminess. They're small, but oh so good. Friends of mine stopped by and bought some to freeze. Smart.

We have homemade breads and jams:

And Buckeye Brownies? Um, yes!

We have Kettle Korn!

and it's popped fresh all day long:

YUM!! I might have bought 3 bags, just for me. Maybe.

We also have a tent each week for school groups, and this week the Robotics Team was there, doing their thing:

I think it's awesome that these groups will be participating in our little market.

Also, the local fire department showed up with their truck:

The kids loved getting to sit in the truck!  I think the truck will come once a month. So fun!

Oh, and I might have bought something from everyone. I didn't get a hanging plant, because I know me pretty well, and I'd kill the poor thing in about a week. They are so pretty they deserve to live. But the same people were selling broccoli plants, and after a brief lesson from the vendor (why I love buying from the producers), I caved and got some.

They'll go into a pot, since I suspect the rabbits like broccoli the same as they like Brussels sprouts.

As you can see, it was a glorious day. Sunny, low 70s, just a perfect day for Opening Day. We had a fantastic turnout, and are thrilled to think we might be a hit. So many people stopped by our market tent to thank us for making this happen. We also heard from a  lot of people who want to join us as vendors, so we have that in the works, too.

We're very excited with the response, and if the rest of the season goes like it did today, I think we'll have an amazing summer.

So please be prepared for some photos from the Saturday markets. I'm very excited about what we've done, and I hope for a very successful and produce-filled summer!

Thanks for stopping by!

New Lil' Inker Designs In Da House

I recently splurged and got a few new Lil' Inker stamps and dies. Today I actually used them, too! Here's what came out:

First I used the new Happy Birthday die to make this card:

I used a UFO from my stash to die-cut the Happy Birthday. I put it onto a piece of subtle-patterned black paper,and put that onto a linen card base. This card stock came over the pond last month, compliments of  a fellow crafter, to whom I am eternally grateful. It's a bear to stamp on, but it makes a gorgeous card base.

Here's another attempt to show you the detail of the card base:

Then I opened and used a stamp set to make this:

I used my MISTI to repeatedly stamp the circles on the bumpier side of my water color paper. Then I smooshed Mustard Seed and Peacock Feathers inks onto my craft mat, misted them with water, and blended them over the circles. I also used the MISTI to stamp the sentiment, knowing I'd need to do it a few times for a good impression,

For my third and last card, I used my new sentiment set to make this:

I used some remnants from my Fancy Pants True Friend paper pack, and added the lovely forgetful woman who I think may need to adorn every card I make this year. I've accepted everything will need to be a belated card (today's card is for someone with a birthday ... today).

And I blame Princess Judy for the brads. She made reference to lolling brads on her desk that got used, so when I was faced with a  blank right edge on my banner, I retrieved a few orange brads from my collection, because I could.

So there you have it -- three stamp sets/dies, and three cards. Go, me!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stuff I used: SU Bermuda Bay card stock, misc brads, and the following:

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CSSC #4

It's the first of the month, and time for a new sketch challenge.  Here is this month's sketch:

which I based on this card I made back in January:

This is a great opportunity to use all those big and bold sentiments, and to try your hand at background techniques. Or just use some pretty papers.

Please feel free to flip the sketch, change the shapes, add layers, or whatever floats your boat. As long as I can recognize the basic sketch in your creation, it's all good!

If you haven't already done so, please check out the rules here. This month's winner will get two of my remaining Simon Says Stamp duplicate ink pads.

The link-up will be open until Thursday, May 21st, at 11:55 pm EDT.

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